Saturday, April 14, 2007

Poila Baishakh or the First Day of the Month of Baishakh is the first day of the Bangla Calendar. This is the Bengali New Year and is celebrated amongst Bengalis in a much festive manner. According to the Gregorian calendar it falls on April 14th or April 15th, this year it is April 15th. This is the New Year for both BanglaDesh and West Bengal.

The Bengalis usher in the New Year with a lot of festivities importance being given to cultural functions, and food. The day is started off with visiting the temples to seek blessings for the New Year but this is not a religious festival and Puja is not the mainstay of this day. Though for businesses this is the day to begin their new accounting year and so this group of people offer Puja and seek blessings to begin the year with a new accounting book called halkhata. With all the new accounting software I don't know what they do, maybe open a new fresh account or something.

For mere mortals like us it was more about a quick prayer at the temple early morning and then off to school , yes my school did not believe in Bong Calendars. Rushing back home in the afternoon, we would change into new clothes bought for the Day -- and then after devouring the sweets my Ma would have made we would rush off in the evening to attend the cultural program that our town had to offer. That was important for my parents. My Ma in her fresh new Tanter Shari with that crisp smell that only such saris can have and my Baba in his starched Pajama and Punjabi would sit there engrossed in the Rabindra Sangeet being sung. I would be thoroughly bored and look around for familiar faces of my friends who would be equally bored.Often we would be invited by the shops we were loyal customers to and this part was more fun because it involved gorging on great food.

It is not very different here regarding the cultural functions part and I am sure the Bengali Association has things lined up for this day but I have already said about D not very keen on going there. So we usually visit the temple on this day and binge on good food.Though the New Year is tomorrow we we extended invitations and had an early celebration with some of our friends over last weekend for dinner. Though we did not serve a typical Bengali menu this is what we had for the main dinner. The appetizers were assortment of Dhoklas, mini samosas etc.

Plain White Rice ~ like what an average Bong would preferRoasted Yellow Moong Dal ~ Split yellow moong dal roasted and then cooked and garnished with grated CoconutCat Fish Nugget er Charchari - Remember in my Charchari post I had said that Charchari might not be vegetarian and we have Fish Charchari too. In absence of the small fish like Mourala etc. we made a Fish Charchari with Cat Fish Nuggets. Tempered with Panch Phoran and with Potatoes and Brinjal to keep the Cat fish company this was the most wanted of all the food items.Paneer in a gravy of Kaju and Posto ~ Paneer cubes simmered in a light gravy of cashew and khus khus pasteMashla Chingri or Shrimps in Masala ~ A spicy shrimp dishPepper Chicken ~ This I followed Sailaja's Pepper Chicken Recipe and it was a big hit tooPineapple Chaatni ~ The recipe is here

For DessertMango PuddingPineapple Malpua

However since we cooked for a large crowd neither me nor my Ma took any measurments while cooking so I won't be able to post the recipes until I measure and cook again !!!

To end this post on a Sweet Note I will post the recipe for the desserts soon but you have to wait for the rest :)

Sandeepa,Wishing u U family Shubho Nabo Borsho :)I need to come and read ur post in detail later, if I sit and read this then our sadya (feast) will be delayed, we re celebrating vishu today.Take careShn

Tomar purono din-er poila baishakh-er din onushthan-er kaotha shune aamar-o eki smriti mone pore gelo. I also was raised in a small industrial town with people of same mindedness about culture and in every possible occassion, a cultural function was arranged and I was dragged onto that. I could identify myself with your narration.

Oooh, I think I have a recipe for Mashla Chingri (the one in your photo looks so yummy!!) somewhere, but what is in the bowl below the prawns? Is it the paneer with the cashewnut gravy? My gosh, I'm supposed to be on a diet, girl!! :) (You asked about my trip - I leave on 29/4, and as it is, have no real mood to cook, heh heh)

MalluGirlShall post the recipe. Yeah Mom is here but she leaves Saturday

Five SpicesMy Ma did make Jibhe gaja last week, but there was so much sugar going into it that I freaked out and did not measure and don't think am going to repeat it anytime soon :) Had I known about you would have sure written it down

Sandeepa, after reading ur post and after picturisng ur sitting there impatiently and bored with ur parents enjoying the culturals, i am now stuck with that last pics...Hoep you will make a post on that one soon...is it a fried dessert?

Oh my sandeepa! The meal looks yummy! Hoping you guys had a good new year celebration. They are having a Bengali Cultural festival soon here in our temple... i will go even if it just for the food ;-)Your paneer curry looks yummy! Paneer is out favorite :-)CheersLatha

Subho Noboborosh Sandeepa. I had completely forgotten. I have been visiting your blog last couple of months and I love the stories and recipes, reminds me of my childhood even though it has been 35 years since I left India. I make malpua all the time for my family, but I have only used khoya in the batter along with maida and mouri, looking forward to your pineapple malpua. I always enjoy little colloquilism's such as Catfish Nugget 'er' charchari(my kids always ask me..what does er mean mom. Pictures are great, keep up the good work.

hey sandeepa,just saw on mandira's blog.. your comment... did'nt know that u knew malleswaram and had lived in Bangalore :-) I am from malleswaram... dont live there anymore, but its my favorite place in the whole world! My parents still live there :-)Nice to know that someone knows the same places and food joints :-)Hugs to uLatha

Hi Sandeepa,Very intersting to read. Talking of your mom's saree, we just returned from a food festival at Kolkata last month - and on one sunday morning, sneaked to nearby market - oh the bengali sarees just took our breath away. How can so many cream sarees look so unique, each one of them?Happy new year to you.

InjiBanana Leaves were used but that was way back. Now a days its hardly used.At least not at my home. For Puja etc. my Ma uses Brass utensils.I think Banana Leaves were a substitute for todays disposable plates and being bio-degradable and all that they were very useful. In wedding feasts etc. also Banana Leaves were used.Later plates made of "Shal Pata" (leevs of Saal tree) were used again because of the ease of use and becaus ethey were disposable.

Now I don't think they are used much because of the availability factor and also they are not economical.

My personal choice -- I liked the plates made of Saal Leaves much better than the Banana levaes. The first had a wonderful earthy smell that went just right with the earthen cups used for serving water. The latter looked nice and green but eating gravy-ish thing was a nightmare, with the free flow form

LinkWithin

Share This

Search This Blog

The Book

About Me

Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine